“If you have to explain who you are, you have no chance. Be it a brand, a person, whatever.” – Shannon Terry, On3 CEO & Founder (my mentor and former-boss)
There were many iterations of the Outsider brand as the media industry evolved between 2020 and 2023. I recreated the Outsider About page more times than I can count to redefine and redescribe our brand mission. I built a beer brand’s identity and product design from scratch. I pitched the mission of On3 and Outsider in order to sign numerous influencers and creators. Brand positioning and development have become passions of mine through the start-up process… But the biggest lesson lies within this quote. No matter the amount of About Page rewrites or perfectly crafted social media bios, the true identity of a brand lives in the unspoken. Brand identity, especially in marketing, isn’t saying that you are “authentic” or “sustainable” or “innovative.” Buzzwords are cool and all… But it’s what you do, what your content represents, and how you facilitate action that proves who you are.
(Of course, I will now over-write and over-share examples proving that I demonstrated that message in my career thus far)
Case Study: Gratis Beer
The goal here was to put Jay Cutler’s dream beer into a can: We wanted to create a clean, minimal-ingredient, high-ABV, crushable beer. (No pressure, right?) The name means “free” in latin and that word encompassed the entire brand identity: free-of-additives, free-of-flavorings, free-of-B.S. I created this brand deck to gain investor interest and initial recognition prior to launch.
PRODUCT DESIGN & MARKET RESEARCH
The biggest point of emphasis on the can design was conveying the clean, crisp nature of the beer onto the product’s packaging; we did this through a simple, yet intentional design that stands out on the shelf.
(I also read a lot of alcohol law about font size and warning labels and all that)
CONTENT STRATEGY
As we set out to create this beer, I pointed out a slight issue: people don’t immediately think of Jay Cutler as a beer guy. How could we prove this upcoming product was indeed a passion of his? I created the idea for “Outside Beers” – a way for Jay and his business partner, Jason, to talk about different beers, show off their personalities, and start growing the brand’s reach, before it was even announced. The mini social series took off- the weekly posts frequently got over 1 million views. The show caught the attention of potential sponsors and added to our original content portfolio.
We also incorporated the product into editorial and other social videos, like this beer can chicken.
Check out a few more clips of Outside Beers:
Edward 40-Hands Clip
Jay hates IPAs Clip
Jay hates IPAs pt. 2 Clip
Ocean Facetime Full Episode
Case Study: SipOutsider
SipOutsider began as a passion play and editorial-only category on Outsider before becoming a brand of its own. Focusing on whiskey and tequila (two of the hottest liquors in the industry at the moment), we aimed to build a community that could interact on an all-encompassing database. Alcohol e-comm is booming, tequila is flying off shelves, and the whiskey influencer talent base is untapped.
I created and used this deck in conversations with brands, creators and businesses about SipOutsider.
INFLUENCER STRATEGY
I targeted and signed influencers in the category in order to establish authority and increase brand awareness as we launched. I wrote contracts and signed highly-respected, highly-followed creators to create video content.
Along with the video content, I created a ghostwriter program for our influencers. By getting their by-lines on the website, we expanded their reach to our larger audience. For us, it helped boost our Google “E-E-A-T” guidelines by having authoritative voices on our domain.
NOTE: Not all associated influencers used this program and further information is confidential.
View video on Instagram here
WEBSITE OPTIMIZATION & DATABASE
Using my drawings and notes, our UX designer built the framework for the Sip database on Figma. We worked together to prioritize personalization, interaction and cleanly displayed datapoints. I met with alcohol brands, distributors, and everyday sippers to understand what features they would benefit from on the platform.
This also included outlining the site’s URL structure and navigation, creating graphics for the socials, and writing the brand description + editorial policy.
Caroline Bynum 